Editorial: Whooping cough needs a whipping in South Jersey

Express-Times Photo | BRUCE WINTER A vaccination is administered by Easton Hospital staff at the Easton Middle School campus in 2009.

With safe vaccine available, whooping cough, also known as pertussis, should be largely a thing of the past in the United States. But it’s been making a comeback at disturbing rates.

New Jersey health officials have investigated 972 possible cases so far this year, of which 438 were confirmed. That means nearly a third of the investigated cases in the Garden State since 2001 are from this year alone.

In our local counties, the trend is the same: Cumberland County’s 30 pertussis cases this year equal half those reported since 2001. In Gloucester County, 18 confirmed cases this year are almost four times the number — five — confirmed in all of 2011.

The highly contagious disease, caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis, causes violent coughing that lasts for weeks. Most at risk for pertussis, although they may not exhibit the loud coughing, are infants under 1 year of age.

Dr. Hassan Salah, chairman of pediatrics for South Jersey Healthcare, sees one main reason for the uptick: Parents don’t get their children vaccinated when they are very young.

While New Jersey requires school children to be vaccinated against whooping cough, protection needs to start much sooner.

The children’s vaccine is in a five-shot series known as DTaP (for diphtheria-tetanus-accelular pertussis). Health officials also recommend a one-time booster shot (“Tdap”) for children at age 11 or 12, as well as for older teens, health care providers, caregivers for infants, anyone 65 or older, and women in later stages of pregnancy who have never received the booster.

Lingering concerns about vaccines containing ingredients supposedly linked to autism are not a valid reason for delay. These reports have been discredited, according to Salah, and the vaccines have been reformulated anyway.

Providers, public health officials and the media all should do a better job to get the word out: Failing to get the pertussis vaccine puts not only your own family, but everyone, at risk.

Health departments offer free vaccination programs for the uninsured, and this may include adults who need the booster. There really are no excuses.